Antoine Vollon seems to have preferred this three-quarter pose, with part of his face in deep shadow, in the handful of self-portraits by the artist that have survived. These include paintings of c.1860 in a private collection and of c.1870 in the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, as well as a self-portrait in old age in 1889. The jaunty tilt of the hat in this drawing may also be a reference to the artist’s usual appearance. As has been noted of Vollon, ‘before leaving Lyon he had been cautioned that once in Paris, he should try to behave like everyone else and not wear his soft cap over one ear. He claimed never to have obeyed this advice. Indeed, in an early Rembrandtesque self portrait, Vollon, then newly arrived in Paris, portrayed himself, palette in hand, wearing his cap to one side.’Carol Tabler has kindly confirmed the attribution of the present sheet, but is of the opinion that, despite the attestation of the artist’s son Alexis on the old backing board, this drawing is not, in fact, a self-portrait. She has suggested instead that it may be a portrait of Vollon’s close friend and fellow artist Joseph Soumy (1831-1863), whom he met in Paris soon after his arrival there from Lyon in June 1859. Certainly the two artists looked quite similar, to judge from a self-portrait drawing by Soumy. (It should perhaps also be noted that Alexis Vollon was born two years after the death of Soumy, and would not have known him.) An early supporter of Vollon’s work, Joseph Soumy joined the artists Hippolyte Flandrin and Charles-François Daubigny in signing a letter recommending that Vollon be granted a commission from the State. He also introduced Vollon to the painter and sculptor Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, another close friend who painted a portrait of Vollon in 1873. Suffering from a degenerative eye disease, Soumy committed suicide in 1863, and Vollon is known to have painted a commemorative portrait of his friend, exhibited as 'Portrait de M. S.' at the Salon des Refusés of that year.Joseph Soumy painted a portrait of Vollon, in which he appears unbearded; the painting was recorded in the possession of the sitter’s son, the artist Alexis Vollon, in 1910.The present sheet formerly belonged to the Swiss art historian François Daulte (1924-1998).

Provenance:Galerie Raphaël Gerard, ParisFrançois Daulte, LausanneAcquired from him by a private collector.